Al Jazeera has released a documentary called, “The Dark Side: The Secret World of Sports Doping.” Working for Al Jazeera, an undercover hurdler named Liam Collins, under the guise of trying to qualify for the Rio Olympics doing “whatever it takes,” connected with several suppliers of illegal substances and covertly recorded all of their conversations. The bent of the investigation was how easy it was for athletes to obtain the drugs but what happened was athletes were named. Of the handful of baseball and football players named, the one that resonates the loudest is Peyton Manning – record-breaking quarterback formerly of the Indianapolis Colts and currently of the Denver Broncos, legacy to a football dynasty and a Golden Boy of the NFL.
Peyton, who had never missed a regular season game prior, famously sat out the 2011 season due to a neck injury that he sought to correct with 4 separate surgeries. A source, Charlie Sly, whom Al Jazeera calls “a doctor of pharmacy,” claims that during Peyton’s 2011 recovery, both Peyton and his wife, Ashley, came for IV treatments after hours to The Guyer Institute, a center focused on anti-aging. Sly also says Peyton had Human Growth Hormone (banned by the NFL) sent to him under his wife’s name. Peyton denied the accusations to ESPN saying, “It’s completely fabricated, complete trash, garbage — there’s more adjectives I’d like to be able to use. It really makes me sick… What hurts me the most about this, whoever this guy is, this slapstick trying to insinuate that in 2011, when more than less I had a broken neck — I had four neck surgeries. … It stings me whoever this guy is to insinuate that I cut corners, I broke NFL rules in order to get healthy. It’s a joke. It’s a freaking joke.” Peyton is threatening to sue.
Since the story hit, the poorly named Sly has recanted his entire story during a taped statement, which he is clearly reading.
We know that Sly did work for the Guyer Institute in 2011. We know that both Manning and his wife were patients there. Peyton says it was suggested on the advice of team doctors and trainers because they have a hyperbaric chamber that would help in his recovery. Peyton refutes that they went outside regular hours. Dr. Dale Guyer, the founder, has declined to comment.
As for the claims about the HGH being prescribed and sent to Ashley, Peyton responded, “Any medical treatments that my wife receives, that’s her business. That has nothing to do with me. Nothing that was sent to her and my wife has used have I ever taken. Absolutely not… I have my treatments that I do. She may have hers, but that’s her business. There’s no connection between the two. I’d love to understand why this guy’s saying this, why he made it up, that he admits he makes it up and yet it still becomes a story. I’d like to be told and explained that.”
The Huffington Post calls Peyton’s comments “confusing.” Deborah Davies of Al Jazeera is emphasizing that Peyton has not denied the claims that Ashley received drugs for him. This means Ashley gets to sit next to Kristin Armstrong and Debbie Clemens at the table of spouses tarred with their husbands’ dope scandal brush.
I do not doubt that athletes are doping and that they are aided by both elaborate schemes in place to cover up and faulty systems of detecting. However, the video is bizarre at best. If you watched it, did you ask yourself why these suppliers kept answering this ‘Olympian’s’ questions? He wasn’t asking how effective the drugs were, he was writing down in-depth details about names, dates, locations. There is no subtlety anywhere near this thing. Most people named have either not responded or denied the accusations outright.
For what it’s worth, Tom Brady has expressed public sympathy for his friend Peyton.
Photo Credit: Fame Pictures and Getty Images
I’d be somewhat surprised if someone at his level was doping in a way that’s on the NFL’s radar.
Most elite sportspeople use or do something. At the highest level though, it’s usually something that the sports authorities won’t catch onto and ban until years later.
His affect is way off. If his wife was legally using this drug I’d expect him to be way calmer. Since it’s legal and all.
So you think he’d be more upset about a legitimate charge than something completely fabricated?
He’s damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t. He protests “too hard”==he’s guilty! He doesn’t “protest enough”==he’s guilty!
The part about what his wife does or doesn’t do is her business seems a bit off. Like she may have been doping but it had nothing to do with him and he wasn’t a part of it. Good thing she is not on the team; because they would be coming for her after that statement.
I don’t know. weird
I’ve read that women sometimes use HGH after childbirth to help them with recovery and getting their body back. And I think she had twins that year? So it’s plausible it was hers. I don’t know how believable anyone is in this thing (and I don’t really care), but there are legit medical reasons why it could be hers.
Some people absolutely use HGH as a diet aid. Some also use Hcg, which is a hormone produced in pregnancy, and is also highly disputed whether or not it actually helps in losing weight.
I live in Indianapolis and it is a fairly common opinion here that Ashley Manning did not give birth to twins. She had them Beyonce style. I may be the only non-Manning fan in the entire state of Indiana, but regardless – nothing I read or see or hear about any professional athlete would surprise me. Do I believe Manning would have done absolutely anything to get back on the field in 2011? Yes. Do I think this Sly is an opportunist? Yes. Whatever Ashley used the HGH for, it was not to “get back her body” because she never lost it.
I did IVF never heard of anyone giving HGH / HcG yes as when they want to release the egg but from what I understand legally you only use HGH for gland problems as my friends daughter is small for her age and gets injections, gut issues and HIV waisting problems. Also not able to use for other issues not like say walbrutin can be used for different things. In this day and age everyone seems to want the easy way but like Chris Rock said in a joke if someone said you can take this and be great at your job some would say hell yeah. It will all come out if it’s indeed true.
Yeah, that immediately struck me as off, too. It borders on throwing her under the bus.
Nah. His wife went through extensive IVF; and he’s trying to respect her privacy. The Mannings are notoriously private. And people who haven’t gone through IVF may not realize the extent of injections and medicine (hormones, steroids etc) that are needed
This. The Mannings had been married for what, a decade, before their twins were born that year? I’m from Indy and I don’t even remember if anyone saw Ashley being pregnant. Or at least they didn’t talk about it publicly. I think she probably used IVF and a surrogate because of fertility problems. I did IVF, too, and HGH is a common thing to be added for a treatment cycle.
I went to graduate school in the Boston area and was at a New England/Indianapolis game. The Manning family was in the box next to us, and the cameras caught Ashley in the doorway. She immediately left the suite and did not return that we saw. Someone who is that private is not going to want her medical history blasted all over the media. I feel bad for her.
That’s one of the leading theories in Indy. Ashley is incredibly private. No one in town saw her pregnant. No one. They didn’t want anything printed in the local papers after the babies were born.
But if steroids or HGH is a part of IVF wouldn’t you get it from your doctor? Don’t other women? Why would you need a secret outside source to mail it to you?
Whatever privacy his family keeps, his statement reads *to me* as throwing his wife deliberately under the bus as the fall guy. That statement puts her in the spotlight as aiding and abetting. I’m sure he spoke to his lawyers before and they are not worth what he pays them if they OK’ed his statement. Weird.
I think the point is, even if it was properly prescribed, it’s a violation of her privacy to even confirm that.
He just says “that’s her business.” So I guess we can deduce what we want from the statement, but it doesn’t sound like an outright confirmation of what she took — just a confirmation of the fact that a) her medical history is her business, no one else’s, and b) is a separate issue from his. Perhaps the notion of her maintaining her medical privacy wasn’t eloquently stated or very articulate from his end, but I didn’t think he was confirming what she took or didn’t take. It just kind of sounded more like he was saying that her medical info, which the media might have gotten hold of through the Al Jazeera source and what he is responding to, is her business, and no one else’s.
I feel terrible for her. I have been through 4 rounds of IVF and its all hormones hormones hormones.
Original T.C. – most to almost of the drugs I used actually come from a third party vendor via mail. 2 of the drugs I used are compounds only made by one pharmacy each – you can only receive them in the mail. They come in ice packs and need to be temperature controlled/refrigerated. I did get some meds through a plastic surgeon office at one point when our order didn’t ship over a holiday and when I thought it odd I had to go to that type of clinic to receive them it occurred to me upon arrival that this clinic specialized in transgender conversion pre and post op. Hormones at these doses are carefully guarded and highly expensive but for whatever reason are not made everywhere and only shipped. Hell, I have “gifted” meds to others in IVF because of how financially and emotionally straining it can be to be waiting for shipments and driving everywhere to find your dose because you didn’t receive them in time. At one point I literally needed 450iu of follistim daily and each large vial is only 900iu so I would literally have to order again the second it arrived because they won’t ship you multiple doses at the same time.
“his statement reads *to me* as throwing his wife deliberately under the bus as the fall guy. That statement puts her in the spotlight as aiding and abetting.”
The original accusations already did that. The said the medical clinic shipped the medication to her and they alleged that he took them instead. She was already involved in this situation by Al Jazeera before Peyton made his statement.
I checked out the clinic’s website online and it looks like a ‘ladies who lunch’ clinic. Lots of weight-loss treatment and fat-melting body sculpting, stuff like that.
It’s possible that Manning is doping, but it seems kind of weird that a place like this would collaborate with his other doctors to act as their supplier.
Yes the way that was stated-like her drugs are her business, sounds to me like he is guilty. Any athlete in this situation, where they are being accused-I tend to think they are guilty. The whole Lance Armstrong saga comes to mind, and I’m afraid I believe Peyton is guilty. Of course I could be completely off base, but have we ever had an athlete accused of doping, that turned out to be innocent? Serious question. It seems to me like it always ends coming out in the end that they are guilty. Am I wrong?
Actually, I do think you are wrong. HIPAA laws state that an individuals medical information is between them and their doctor, period. I think he is stating (somewhat inelegantly) that her medical information belongs to HER. They are a notoriously private couple from what I understand.
It’s an anti-aging thing that a lot of women use to lose weight and look younger. One of my neighbors lost like 30 lbs and has the body of a 20 year old again. She looks fantastic…long term effectiveness or side effects are questionable.
Yeah, I’ve read some accounts in the paper about this HGH stuff kicking cancer cells into overdrive, so it’s best to do your research and be very, VERY careful about what you put in your body when it comes to these sorts of things.
Everyone is comparing this to Lance Armstrong, but with Armstrong there were a series of allegations over many years, from many credible sources. I am not saying Peyton Manning is innocent- I wouldn’t be surprised if anyone in pro sports had doped at some point- but this is not necessarily a credible source. I also read that Sly only worked as an intern and not while Manning received treatment. It is possible it is true, but also possible that Sly is inflating his experience in order to get and impress wealthy clients.
Also, people are saying that Manning is issuing too strong a denial, so he must be covering up! But then note that his wife doesn’t deny the allegations! Some of this should be easy to follow up and corroborate- lets get some more facts beyond this one guy on video.
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_29313906/peyton-manning-denies-allegation-he-received-hgh-2011
There is some dispute as to the exact dates of Sly’s internship… See attached link…this report has Feb-May 2013 as the dates of internship.
The reporter released a video of them calling the clinic to verify his 2011 employment information before publishing the story
So he was there in 2011
Regardless, it is not in dispute that he had access to medical records.
“Threatening to sue” is not a good sign. If you’re innocent, you sue!
It’s murky because his neck was broken and he could have been receiving all kinds of treatments. Hyperbaric oxygen is legit for healing. Receiving oxygenated blood is another healing technique – but it is not the same as doping.
The allegations just came out a few days ago so threatening to sue is not a sign of anything. Once a lawsuit starts then things will become far less private in terms of establishing that the allegations are false and that means blasting his wife’s medical history in depositions and the like. They may be looking for a way for this to go away without resorting to that.
It also takes time to draft the pleadings and this is the holiday season right now and some lawyers like to have a bit of time off.
If we hear nothing about a lawsuit in about a month then maybe we can read into that. Not within days of this coming out. Not everything is insta reaction and things like lawsuits take time to consider and set up.
He will never sue. Never. He’s blustering right now. If he sues, a lot of stuff will come out and they are a notoriously private couple. They were covered for for years here in Indy. If he sues, he will be deposed. He won’t want that. Ashley will really not want that. If he sues, it will settle quickly and with a confidentiality agreement.
I watched the documentary… the whole thing was very fake feeling… and Dr. Guyer did release a public statement… I’m wondering if his wife, who is notoriously private, has a medical condition that they are trying to keep a secret
I’ve met Peyton, he’s a super nice guy and has done a lot for charity in Indy. His wife gave birth to twins in early 2012, they were apparently having fertility issues and HGH can be used by women for fertility treatments (I’m not saying she used it, just that it can be used for treatment), if this is the case I don’t know why they wouldn’t just come out and say it, but to be fair it’s no one’s business. I don’t doubt that doping goes on in the NFL, but this Sly seems fishy.
Exactly Chloe! I should have read your comment before I replied above
They had twins in 2011. So i doubt she was receiving fertility treatments, unless she hoped to immediately conceive again. But that would be hard on her body so i doubt it
Audrey – it could have been not to conceive but she could have been seeking treatments to harvest eggs for future IVF. It’s not uncommon actually. Additionally she could have been seeking hormone treatment or supplements related to post-partum. Speaking from experience at how difficult IVF can be, the hormone hell is no joke and I needed hormone shots for weeks after one failed attempt because my estrogen spiked at 21 times the normal amount found in the average women and progesterone supplements were not curbing it fast enough. I was a physical and emotional disaster and had to go back for shots for weeks to “balance” the chemical imbalance IVF caused.
I actually meant 2011, not 2012.
That’s an interesting theory. And if true I can see why they’d be infuriated.
I’m a Doctor of Pharmacy. It’s a degree, but we cannot prescribe Meds without a written protocol (called a Scope of Practice) and a physician who signs off – sort of like a nurse practitioner. We are in specialty areas. Think Coumadin clinics, diabetic clinics – mine was inpatient critical care where I wrote TPNs and did kinetic monitoring and adjustment of antibiotics. I also had a residency under my belt, though.
The PharmD source is breaking HIPPA and needs to be fired. It doesn’t matter if it’s an “anti-aging institute” or not – HIPPA is still in place.
Isn’t HGH used with weight loss? I thought I remembered that being a big thing a couple of years ago
Yes it was. I know several people who used HGH to lose weight. But it was used in with a weight loss plan. I wouldn’t do it because it was one – expensive and two – not going to throw any hormones/drugs that don’t need to be in my body.
Great comment – by the way, it is HIPAA (health insurance portability and accountability act, passed in 1996). And that guy is definitely violating it! Everyone involved in patient care is covered by HIPAA.
If he is still licensed he needs to be brought up on charges.
I believe the weight loss hormone was human gonadotrophin (sp) hormone. Mimicking the metabolic changes assoc with pregnancy.
Both HGH and Hcg are used in weight loss. Though Hcg is of questionable use – it’s also usually.paired with an 800 calorie a day diet, so the hormone itself supplemented doesn’t likely do anything.
Of course Brady offered his sympathy – a cheater knows a cheater.
I feel like Peyton is the Silver Boy and Teflon Tom is the Golden Boy.
Brady is no golden boy lol.
Thanks to his dad, Peyton is definitely in with the right people around the league and in the media.
Brady doesn’t really shake the right hands like that.
Peyton definitely gets the golden boy treatment. And that’s fine, i don’t think Brady cares if people like him
You people are so ridiculous…..If this story had come out accusing Brady, the whole thread would have been, that, of course, he is guilty! But, Peyton, no way! How can anyone call Brady a cheater, after winning the first ten games in a row this season. Why can’t people “man up” and just admit the whole “deflategate” was a lie….
So true, MrsBPitt. I don’t want to see Peyton get railroaded, but it annoys me that everyone jumped on Brady’s back over maybe knowing about deflated balls (which has turned out not to be true if you have read any of the legal docs) when it clearly gave no competitive advantage. I don’t think the balls were even deflated, since it turned out the media lied about that too and never checked the other teams balls.
But moving on….Peyton is a great quarterback, but he is no angel. They swept the sexual offense that happened when he was the QB at Tennessee under the rug. That turned out in a $300K settlement to the accuser.
The NFL must investigate these allegations. I hope for Peyton’s sake they do a better job this time around. And I am going to be super annoyed if they don’t DEMAND HIS CELL PHONE like they ridiculously did to Brady. Plus the cell phones of all the other NFL players implicated.
He could well have been doping but if you watch the video it has a staged feel, nothing particularly realistic about it at all.
Archie will not be thrilled….
Not when the family ‘brand’ is more or less about being upstanding and having integrity.
My husband has followed Peyton since his UT Knoxville days, and has commented on how classy and low key Ashley seems. Now she’s in the spotlight, big time.
It’s a bit strange that he attempts to use the fact that it was 2011, when he was injured and had surgeries, as a defense against doping rumours. Like, I wasn’t competing, so why do it? But being a top athlete, he knows that doping can help you heal better after injuries and surgery, as well as get you fit again faster. Being injured is one of the biggest temptation factors there is. Hmmm…..
Also, ” Nothing that was sent to her and my wife used have I ever taken.” Um, okay. That’s a nice piece of sophistry right there. How about the stuff that she was sent but never used? Could you take that? Lol!
If it’s wrong, he shouldn’t just threaten to sue, he should sue.
It’s not that simple. If he sues, almost anything can be brought out in disclosure–any medical issues of both himself and his wife, any issues that might be causing him stress or emotional upset (since he will claim these accusations have caused emotional/mental distress as part of the lawsuit). It would be hugely invasive and almost any subject would be allowed, even some that would seem totally outside the issue. A good lawyer would advise him not to sue–not because he was guilty but because he and his family would be the ones whose privacy would be shredded and whose entire life would be exposed to the public.
It’s not fair, of course, but if he doesn’t sue — it will hang over him forever. I suspect there will be some minor admission of guilt though. Where there’s smoke…
I read on a sports website that if Manning sues, his wife’s medical records would become part of the discovery process because they would need to prove the drugs were prescribed to her. Pretty good reason *not* to sue.
Are any of you lawyers here? You don’t just blast out a lawsuit in a few days. Someone actually needs to draft the pleadings and get the facts to support the allegations. His wife will certainly be dragged into this and that is certainly a consideration.
Right now his threats to sue don’t mean guilt or innocence. They mean that his lawyers are still looking at the options and gathering the information to determine what should be done. Social media may be instant but the practice of law is not and neither should it be.
In about a month from now if nothing has been done then we can read into his inaction. Right now is just way too soon.
The documentary did seem..lacking in some respects. What a lot of people don’t know is that HGH has appropriate medical uses, including helping to preserve muscles that are injured or deteriorating. Manning, if I recall correctly, has had some really serious injuries throughout his career. It would not shock me in the least if he received some kind of HGH treatment.
This is part of the problem. While doping is a major issue and should be dealt with, the risk is that the pendulum can swing all the way over to the other side and now athletes will try to hide even legitimate uses of different substances, because nobody wants to even be accused of doping.
If Manning took HGH for legitimate injury recovery, I’d wish he’d just say so, because that could go a long way towards being open about what it takes to continue on in a really tough sport. But the documentary felt like it sort of just playing the old “You used HGH, cheater” card without discussing context and appropriate usage within the sports community.
I feel they same way. If you’re using HGH as a course of therapy to heal after a severe injury of any sort and while sidelined, I don’t see the issue. Using HGB during performance is an entirely different issue.
Andy Pettitte used HGH to recover from an elbow injury.
Except that such usage is prohibited in pro sports. In Manning’s case, he had 4 neck surgeries, missed an entire season and then returned from those injuries to have his two best seasons, hands down, in a very storied career. And he happened to be 36 years old at the time, which is not exactly prime time for an NFL player. When stories are too good to be true, they usually aren’t true. Ask everyone that defended Lance Armstrong.
I will add, that it isn’t just Manning. Adrian Peterson, for example, returned several years ago from a torn ACL in just 6 months and had his best season in his already hall of fame-worthy career.
The NFL has a lot of dirty little secrets. Use of banned substances by MANY players is just one of them.
Except HGH use during an injury is an accepted medical thing. HGH has a long history of helping preserve muscles that have been subject to trauma. Plenty of doctors say that, used correctly, it can help prevent permanent disability in athletes. But it does have the side effect of enhancing performance, at least temporarily. But here’s the thing – that doesn’t negate it as an effective treatment for the issues that cause athletes to seek it out.
Personally, if Manning used HGH to recover from injuries and received an incidental performance boost from it, that’s not an issue to me. Effectively, you’re arguing that Manning and his doctor should have made medical decisions based on a fear of possible side effects, rather than what was medically best for him at the time.
I actually wouldn’t be shocked if he continued to use it.
The league banned it in 2011 but only started testing for HGH in 2014. Manning had unbelievable years in 2012 and 2013 before falling off in 2014 and then just being horrendous this year.
I know quarterbacks decline with age, but it’s odd that his decline coincides with the start of HGH testing. Some even pointed this out in the last offseason, but were called crazy.
I don’t know if i believe it. I honestly don’t really care, I’m sure many athletes use something. But the media is definitely treating him with kid gloves when it comes to HGH after persecuting brady over a minimal amount of air pressure
@Sam: He and his doctors can decide that HGH is the best course of treatment, certainly. But the rules of the game he plays dictate that it is a banned substance. So it is his choice, play by the rules or break the rules. It is a choice that many NFL players have to make so they can continue playing. In Peyton’s case, he has more money than he and several generations could ever need, so it isn’t something he has to do to provide for his family. If he did it (and I’m not saying he did, but I sure do think it is likely), he did it so he could keep playing, chase after another Super Bowl, break passing records, whatever. Just like Lance Armstrong. Just like Roger Clemens. Just like Barry Bonds. The list goes on and on and on.
Kate: But he wasn’t playing at the time, IIRC. He was out injured during the 2011 season – which, if you watch the documentary, Sly stated that he provided the HGH during the fall of 2011 – exactly when Manning would have been recovering.
Using HGH while in active competition is decidedly different. IF Manning used it (and we don’t know that he did), the timeline shows that he was not in active competition while using and was using in a medically sanctioned way to recover from an injury. While some performance enhancement is noted when players like him come back, it is not comparable to active use while competing. The NFL can ban HGH, which has documented medical benefits for injured players, but they sought to discredit the doctors who noted that constant headshots were probably giving the players dementia – so I wouldn’t put too much stock in the NFL.
You still haven’t addresses my salient points: Manning, if he used HGH, used it in what was most likely a medically sound way to assist in recovery from a major injury, he did not use it during active competition, so any enhancement he received was incidental. How is this some kind of scandal or issue? You also make unwise comparisons. Bonds, Armstrong and Clemens all openly used PEDs solely to enhance performance. They had no injuries. Like I said, you should be able to tell the difference between somebody who uses solely for illicit performance benefits and medically indicated use that results in incidental performance enhancement.
@Sam, I get and, to a degree, agree with your points. However, NFL players enter a profession in which they agree that they cannot use certain substances for any reason. Same with some Olympic athletes who cannot use certain sinus medication or motion sickness medications because they can be considered performance enhancement.
Sam, it doesn’t matter if it is an acceptable use. Here in Indianapolis, one of the best defensive players, Robert Mathis, took drugs prescribed by a reproductive endocrinologist when he and his wife were trying to conceive using IVF. That drug was against league policy and he was suspended 4 games for it. Doesn’t matter that there is a medically acceptable use. Think of all the “medical marijuana” clinics in California and how guys like Biebs suddenly develop “medical conditions” that require them to be able to visit those dispensaries.
The thing is it’s none of anyone’s business besides his doctors and his family. I wouldn’t want every detail of my recovery from a major injury out to be dissected. And like people said his wife could’ve used HGH for fertility issues which again is a private and difficult matter. HIPAA was violated here
There’s plenty of reasons I don’t believe this report…first off the “sting” seemed like a set up. Second if you’ve followed this PM from his college days there have been zero allegations surrounding him. A whisper would’ve occurred by now with how many years he’s been playing. Also if you read and watch the video the dates don’t even match up. There are dates where the mannings weren’t being treated at the facility, dates that don’t match when this informant “worked” at the facility, etc. it doesn’t add up and frankly the report seems like they tossed a bunch of big names in the air to make a headline grabbing “expose”. It seems like they are going to be slapped with a ton of lawsuits and the informant better get a lawyer. Manning isn’t the only one named in this report and a few others have threatened lawsuits as well. Thing is we probably won’t see anything about a lawsuit till after the season but yea hope they have some good lawyers on their side.
Giving Manning the benefit of the doubt. His reputation earned that much.
Couldn’t have said it better myself, Alex!
The NFL has rules about what can and cannot be done with injuries, so while it wouldn’t be anyone else’s business, Manning is an NFL player and it is their business if he broke the rules.
Despite being a die-hard Pats fan, I hope Manning isn’t guilty because I think he is a good person. That being said, given the circus the NFL made DeflateGate into, I hope they also subject Manning to the same scrutiny that they did on Brady. On second thought, that probably wouldn’t be fair to Manning, since the NFL proved with DeflateGate they can’t investigate anything honestly.
I feel for him. The NFL prohibits injured players from using HGH in a medically sound, approved way, they penalize players who might use cannabis for pain relief, but they denied for years that one too many head shots might give you dementia. If Manning did what he needed to do to save his health and wellbeing, I applaud him. If the NFL comes down on him for this, I hope he calls them out for putting profits and image above the players.
@Sam, certainly the NFL has a lot to answer for when it comes to the well-being of its players. But if Manning did use HGH, you can be certain it was done not to “save his health and well-being,” but instead to extend his career. And if you think that Peyton Manning will ever “call out” the NFL for “putting profits and image above the players,” then you really don’t understand who Peyton Manning is.
If a player is injured, I think the team’s insurance pays them. If Manning admitted to that, the flood gates could open for something else like a lawsuit.
@Sam: The only problem with it being a legitimate source of recovery is it’s still a banned substance. Regardless of being sidelined and not playing that season he is still bound by his NFL contracts. Wes Welker for example, he was on a four game suspension for MDMA in his system during the Kentucky Derby (which means football season was over).
Peyton wouldn’t even have to respond if the institution that employs him were not so thoroughly corrupt. Hope he’s got a plan in place for when the effects of CTE begin to set in.
As others have pointed out, this is his reputation on the line so why is he not suing? Sketchy sketchy.
Because it’s only been two days since the documentary ran? Takes a bit longer than a day to put together a legal complaint.
Yes. Finally someone with some sense. No one blasts out a lawsuit of this nature in two days. Even if they are drafting pleadings, they need to make sure they are accurate and that takes some time. Besides there are other options and it looks like he doesn’t want his wife dragged into this.
No lawsuit right now actually means nothing. In real life law things generally don’t happen overnight.
Because lawsuits, particularly defamation lawsuits of public figures, take a lot of time. I guarantee he has already consulted attorneys and is trying to decide where to file or whether to try for an out of court settlement.
Sure. Or maybe he actually did use PEDs and doesn’t want to risk going through with a lawsuit and opening up that whole can of worms. People are acting like it isn’t a common PR strategy to vehemently deny and threaten a lawsuit in order to show conviction and a hardline approach, all the while never having any real intention to sue.
If he sues, it could possibly open up the records of his wife as well because she did receive treatments from that place. It’s just whether or not she’s willing to give up her privacy..
I’m not saying he didn’t do it but I’m going to need more proof before I decide..
Fair enough, blue. They don’t have concrete proof yet. I kind of wish it would just go away and they would leave Peyton alone.
I feel the same Kitten. I have been a fan of Manning since TN, he’s part of the reason I still root for them and I hate that this is how it’s going to end.. I’m not going to sit here and say he didn’t do it cause I don’t know, I’m just really hoping it’s not true
Exactly. Whether he did or didn’t it’s ridiculous that his career would be marred because of it IMO.
@Sam-I don’t care how private his wife is. I’m pretty sure that she would chance her medical history being released (because infertility issues are really that uncommon/controversial??) if her husband’s entire career-a lifetime of work-is on the line. Aside from it being the more rational financial decision, I’m certain any wife would do that for her husband. I would wager that if she knew he was innocent, that would be a pretty small sacrifice in the grand scheme of things.
Kitten – you missed my point. The question isn’t whether she would. The question is why she should have to at all. Because she has the bad luck to be married to a man for whom HGH would be controversial? Frankly, that’s sort of leaning towards victim-blaming. Ashley Manning’s medical history shouldn’t be as entitled to privacy because of who she married? I don’t buy it.
And if you don’t think infertility is shameful, then well, you’ve never dealt with it. Women beat themselves up like crazy over matters relating to sexuality and fertility. We still live in an age where admitting to needing help opens you up to a lot of scrutiny. And notice, that was only one of the uses I mentioned. It’s also commonly used to treat sexual dysfunction. Would you be willing to admit to the national press how your lady parts don’t work so great and how you need drugs to function sexually? Maybe you have no issue with revealing such information, but frankly, you should consider that you are not everybody.
Ashley is incredibly private, bordering on abnormally so. Not one person in Indy ever saw her pregnant, despite the babies being born here. They didn’t want the twins birth reported in the local paper.
Additionally, the “rational financial decision” may not be so.. I’m originally from Tennessee and one of the rumors when Ashley and Peyton got married was that she was from a family that was wealthy enough to insist on a prenuptial agreement before he made any significant money in the NFL. Supposedly she comes from very old money.
@Courtney- I heard that too.
Some odd stuff with the Manning family. I don’t like to speculate so I’m just passing along what I read without further comment. Cause this is a gossip site after all
I read that she wasn’t pregnant, people saw her a month before and she was not pregnant. Suspicion is either a surrogate or a side piece was pregnant. Apparently they have an open marriage. And the birth was announced by Peyton’s mom and his wife flipped out about it.
I don’t know if it’s true but weird stuff has come out on other gossip boards. Like she leaves him but is paid to come back. And has smashed out his car windows before. He supposedly had a thing with a local meteorologist for years.
Grain of salt but just to pass stuff along.
It’s not really that sketchy if you know defamation law. If he sued, his wife would probably be forced to disclose what, if anything, she was using HGH for. And, oh, I don’t know, maybe an innocent person shouldn’t have to display potentially very sensitive medical information in public? Just a thought.
Seriously, look up the list of things HGH is sometimes used in. A big one is reproductive and sexual disorders. Maybe the woman doesn’t want to admit to such personal things publicly?
@Sam
Yes his wife could have been using HGH for sexual dysfunction, IVF, weight loss, wrinkle treatment etc. Why not go to a medical clinic to get the injections instead of getting home delivery of a substance that is considered illegal as part of her husband’s work which pays her bills?
Manning’s statement about his wife is even more puzzling, he pretends as though he knows nothing about what his wife is up to. Like she’s a stranger. HE is making her look bad:
“Any medical treatments that my wife receives, that’s her business. That has nothing to do with me. Nothing that was sent to her and my wife has used have I ever taken. Absolutely not… I have my treatments that I do. She may have hers, but that’s her business. There’s no connection between the two”
I would guess that because she wanted it totally off the books. While medical info IS private, if you use insurance, there are records. And sadly, Ashley Manning is somebody who’s medical info could leak, especially if it was “salacious.” I am old enough to remember when Paris Hilton’s house or storage unit (I forget which) got burglarized and somebody found a bill that noted that she had a prescription for Valtrex or some other drug commonly used to treat STDs. It went all over the media. Medical info, sadly, is considered a big deal to get for famous people and their families.
My guess is that she probably wanted as little documentation as possible and, through Peyton, found this guy who would help her out. Yes, it’s not a great way to go about it, but I can understand how one might think that way. Overall, not a great way to go about it.
I’ve read that he would probably lose. He has to prove actual malice and the reporters going to his reps for comment before publishing would work in their favor. They’re reporting information, there isn’t a smear campaign here. They didn’t do this to come after manning and they gave him a chance to share his side to balance the story.
The way reporters like Mort are covering this is interesting though, eh?
Don’t get me started on Mort..
Also, why does he not clearly state “I did not take any performance-enhancing drugs”, period. His denial is a whole lot of being offended, insulting & questioning the integrity of others.
Saying “absolutely not” is not a true denial, because it’s a statement without any ownership, subject, or object…that kind of vague comment is a way that people lie, while still being able to tell themselves they did not really lie. Everyone now says that he denied it, when he actually never did, he just made it sound like he did.
For someone so image conscious and usually well spoken, his wordy word answer is a bit odd. Maybe it’s because he isn’t practiced at crisis PR.
Even if this story is bogus, things like this tend to open the door for other allegations.
I’m from Indy and I admire Peyton for all that he’s done for the city — my kid even went to the ER at the Peyton Manning children’s hospital once when we were visiting family — so I do have some bias here. That said, I also used to live in Austin when we were in the height of the Lance Armstrong Tour de France wins/doping allegations. Plenty of people in town made excuses for him (including me) because we didn’t want to think it was true. We all know how that turned out.
So while I’m a Colts fan and I do like Peyton, I’m not going to dismiss allegations like this anymore based on my admiration for what an athlete has done. It does seem sketchy to me to hang a year-long doping investigation on the undercover video confession of an intern who only worked there for a few months. And as others have pointed out, there are legitimate reasons why Ashley Manning could have had HGH sent to her — for weight loss or IVF treatments.
Seems to me like there are a lot more questions than answers right now.
If he did do it, it was during the lockout when presumably he could argue that league rules were not applicable. I guess I’m one of the few people who doesn’t think this is a huge deal really. I believe he probably did it and I’m not buying the excuses of his wife using it for her infertility treatments-I think that was probably just a convenient cover.
Anyway despite being a Pats fan, I actually like Peyton Manning and I think he’s a phenomenally talented athlete, whether he took PEDs or not. Most real football fans agree about that, except the ones who’ve been waiting to see Peyton f*ck up and are rejoicing at this moment. He’ll still go down as one of the greatest and the future of his career is questionable at this point (not because of this but because of age and injury). On another note, I can’t wait to see the hilarious NFL non-investigation that will inevitably ensue.
Largely sums up how i feel.
I also feel bad for manning because it would show just how desperate he was to get back out there. And apparently he was ready to give up but his wife pushed him to get back out there.
I don’t care if he used it. But i hope many realize how differently manning is being treated compared to Brady. At least acknowledge the bias
I respect Peyton Manning and I’m aware that he did a tremendous amount of charity work in Indiana but I’m not about to dismiss or accept these allegations without more evidence one way or another. Yes, the allegations seem to be coming from a shady person but so have similar allegations against other athletes that have turned out to be true in the past. Legitimate medical people don’t deal in giving HGH to professional athletes.
And agreeing with Kitten that the NFL will conduct an hilarious non-investigation. On another note, it is snow/sleeting here after a week of 60 degree temperatures and one of my car tires has deflated. Because it does when the weather changes like this.
I call absolute B.S. on the Al Jazeera report and especially on Deborah Davies, who was on TODAY this morning making so many contradictory remarks that it was hard to follow the vomit she was trying to project. She needs to take her crapola and pinched face away from all media.
Well yeah but she can’t say that she has evidence because she doesn’t. She has to be very clear that the doc is only evidence that manning’s wife ordered HGH. She has no real proof.
The real news is that anyone reported anything off of Al Jazeera. That station is so far down the cable channel if you blink you’ll miss it.
I’m a die hard pats fan and this story is like Christmas for me!
If you are naive enough to think he didn’t do it, just probably are waiting for your millions from Mark Zuckerberg.
Just because he is deemed as a “nice” guy doesn’t mean he doesn’t cheat to get an advantage. Or to come back from major surgery. People are so quick to sh*t all over Tom Brady for allegedly tampering with footballs, but when it’s a Manning, it’s incomprehensible. Give me a break!
AJ:
People jumped on Tom Brady because of Spygate. If Bellichek hadn’t been arrogant about exploiting a loophole in the rules, then I believe public opinion regarding Brady would have been far different.
And I say this as a New Englander who listened to every second of both scandals on sports radio.
I disagree. People hate the Pats and Belichick because of Spygate. People hate on Brady for everything – his (obnoxious) wife, winning etc. But, Manning gets a pass on everything because he is deemed as a nice guy. It’s absurd. HGH, while common, is against the rules and is still cheating to gain an advantage…which is far more egregious than the PSI of footballs.
Manning has the right connections so he’s always shown ina positive light.
He also doesn’t win so people aren’t as eager to tear him down.
True this, Babsie. My father and I were discussing the Pats with my mother, who is not a sportsball fan, and my dad said to her “in a league of rule-breakers and cheaters, everyone looked at the Patriots and said ‘even we think they cheat too much.'” I think Brady’s a cheater because there’s been multiple stories about how he cheats. I recognize I’m just one person, but my general mentality is that Brady doesn’t get any benefit of the doubt because he has a track record. This is the first time that Manning has been accused of this sort of thing. Now if you want to say that Manning has cheated, just the same as Brady, then that’s fine and I’m happy to listen, but I’ll need receipts. Comparing Manning and Brady in this situation doesn’t work because they don’t have the same history.
Brady doesn’t have multiple stories of cheating. He was accused of ball deflation but that has been largely discredited.
People believe the patriots must be cheating due to their success over the years. Really it comes down to hard work(players from other teams have commented on how much harder they work), cap management(brady took a pay cut to help with this) and great scouting(they find lots of diamonds in the rough, like dion lewis and jabaal sheard, got randy moss and andre carter).
And coaching, of course.
God, thanks Audrey. People are so blind in their hatred of Brady they make things up like he always cheats. Brady had nothing to do with taping the signals at Spygate, the coach did, but yes, by all means……blame Brady! And the alleged deflategate scandal was discredited, though the haters still refuse to believe the truth.
Comparing deflated balls that were proven not to really be deflated and Performance Enhancing Drugs is laughable……Lance Armstrong, Barry Bonds… using drugs to gain a competitive advantage is the ESSENCE of cheating at sports.
Now let’s sit back and see if the media and NFL treats Peyton like Brady. I hope not for Peyton’s sake, but it’s going to annoy Pats fans because there is such a blatant double standard.
And as for the “nice guy” defense – nice guys don’t get accused of sexual assault. I am really not sure why no one else has brought the incident from TN up yet.
Yes, thank you Audrey!
Heather, I believe the “sexual assault” charge you’re referring to was actually an instance of Peyton flashing his butt at a female trainer while at UT. Not a great idea, but come on, give me a break. It’s hardly worth mentioning.
Uhm, Brady does not have a track record of cheating. And the NFL admittedly couldn’t even prove that anybody deflated the footballs. As Judge Berman pointed out, the individual with the greatest motivation and the most opportunity to deflate that football was the Colts equipment manager.
By the way, during a game, teams get called for penalties all the time – when they do so, they are CHEATING. The Patriots generally rank low in having penalties called against them.
CarlottaLove, that is not a true statement regarding the victim’s testimony. Go and read the testimony. It is very crass and disgusting so I would rather not repeat it. But, Peyton tried to spin it that he was mooning her.
Not to mention that the “reporter” Liam Collins was charged with bilking investors in a phantom money making scheme in the UK prior to becoming a rogue reporter. Doesn’t look like Al Jazeera vetted him too well. I think the network, which is virtually non existent in the ratings, saw an opportunity to grab some headlines and jumped too quickly. Same with the Huffington Post who decided to support the network. Both are forced now to double down to save face.
He’s not the reporter, he just went undercover and taped conversations.
His credibility doesn’t really matter, he just asked questions and recorded the answers
I am no sports fan or follower so please take this opinion with a grain of salt, but…. to me an athlete who uses something like HGH to recover from a massive injury is very different from someone who uses HGH to win games. Wasn’t he out the entire season? I suppose the controversy remains because if they used it once you can’t trust that they are not cheating in the present. But even if it is true, it doesn’t strike me as true cheating Armstrong-style.
It is still against the rules.
He’s being very specific about his wording, just like Armstrong was. “Nothing that was sent to her and my wife has used have I ever taken,” means nothing if his wife never took the drug; it means that he took it and she didn’t.
i dont know who this guy is but (1) wow his head is big and (2) omg that outfit in the 2nd pic is like everything wrong with the early 70s
Lots of loops and holes in this story. ..
I really don’t care if he took HGH, but the difference in the media coverage on him as compared to Brady and the Pats is eye-rolling to say the least. Fawning over Peyton “fighting back” while accusing TB of being a cheater – puke. (I liked Tom’s answer – winning #4, baby!)
Well, if TOM BRADY says he didn’t do it, then he didn’t do it! Case closed!
Isn’t his career almost over anyways? I don’t think he has even been playing lately I’m pretty sure its been the backup quarterback.